HELPING HELPERS: As county and state purse...

HELPING HELPERS: As county and state purse strings tighten, agencies that help senior citizens find more demands on their time. “Our phone calls are going up about 10% to 15% a year,” says Ian Wilson of the nonprofit Orange Caregivers Resource Center. “As county services get cut, more people are needing our services.” . . . The agency provides support help for caregivers with elderly relatives suffering from dementia through aging. . . . “We’re a good first call,” says spokeswoman Jaini Barker. “We can’t do everything, but we can get them started.”

HEALTHY TAKEOUT: Nearly $6 million in federal money for seniors funnels to the county through the Area Agency on Aging. By far the biggest expenditure--$1.6 million--is for serving seniors meals at their homes or at senior centers. Most of that goes to local Meals on Wheels programs, which serve two to three meals a day to more than 3,000 seniors. . . . “There’s a waiting list of people that we should serve but don’t,” says the agency’s contracts manager, Jerry Bellsmith. “We simply don’t have any more money.”

FARMER FLO: When Flo Holzgraf of Newport Beach was looking for volunteer work, she was skeptical when someone suggested the Centennial Farm at the county fairgrounds. “I knew nothing about farming,” she says, laughing. “I didn’t even know that a cow had to have a calf before it could give milk.” . . . But Holzgraf, 80, is catching on fast. She does know a lot about volunteering. She’s worked for Sherman Gardens and has visited cancer patients. “Volunteer work is the best thing a senior can do,” she says.

SHIFTING GEARS: Ernie Plambeck of Anaheim recently called the Volunteer Center of Greater Orange County to quit. He’d been a volunteer for nearly a dozen years at Martin Luther Hospital. But at 92, he was getting too old to drive, the DMV told him. “We told him: ‘Hey, don’t give up on us yet,’ ” says the center’s director, Jeannette Wood. The center found volunteer work he could do at home. . . . “Seniors who volunteer live longer,” Wood is convinced. “They should give us a call.” (714) 953-5757.